coincidence – Erin Pavlinahttp://www.erinpavlina.com
Come with questions. Leave with peace of mind.Tue, 12 Dec 2017 11:00:14 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.4How to Tell the Difference Between a Sign and a Coincidencehttp://www.erinpavlina.com/blog/2011/08/how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-sign-and-a-coincidence/
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:00:15 +0000http://www.erinpavlina.com/blog/?p=1959Read On]]>Have you ever been given a sign by the universe? Have you ever discounted a sign as mere coincidence? How are you supposed to know if an event is a sign from the universe or if it’s just a coincidence?

First, what is a coincidence? From Wikipedia, “Any given set of coincidences may be just a form of synchronicity, that being the experience of events which are causally unrelated, and yet their occurring together carries meaning to the person observing the events. (In order to count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.)”

I’ll bet you’ve been on the receiving end of lots of coincidences in your life. I know I have. But how do you know how seriously to take the coincidence? Are you supposed to act on it like it’s a sign? What is a sign?

A sign is an event or information sent to you by the universe to get you to understand something, take action on something, or become aware of something that could help or hurt you. It is designed for you to perceive and take action upon. I get signs from my spirit guides all the time, but even I sometimes am not sure if something is just a coincidence or a real sign from my guides. So I came up with an arrangement that has been serving me very well.

I told my guides that if they want to send me a sign they have to send it 3 times. Then I’ll know it’s really from them and not just a coincidence or random happening. If I get the sign once, I take note of it but rarely act on it. If I get it twice, I start thinking it’s a sign and not a coincidence. If I get it a third time, I know it’s a sign and take appropriate action or pay more attention to what it’s trying to tell me. If I get all 3 signs in a 24 hour period, then I pay particular attention. Sometimes I get all 3 signs within minutes of each other. Let me give you a recent example from my own life.

My guides like to communicate with me via license plates. So the other day I was driving to lunch and took note of the car in front me whose license plate read “mode.” I immediately thought of Depeche Mode but wasn’t sure if it was important. A few seconds later, a car came up my right side and passed me. It’s license plate was “d mode.” Hmm. That’s really suspicious. I really took note. I arrived at my lunch appointment inside our local mall. The song playing on the radio when I walked in was Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” The line playing when I took note of the song was “Reach out and touch faith.” Now I knew it was a sign and I needed to pay attention.

So I started wondering what it could mean. A trick to determining the meaning of a sign is to think about what you’re feeling most anxious about or what is most on your mind because guides will usually send you signs to help you figure out answers. On my mind that day was working out a proper and fair settlement with my soon to be ex-husband, whose favorite band happens to be Depeche Mode. I knew it had something to do with him and our divorce. So the line, “reach out and touch faith” I took to be a sign that I needed to have faith that everything was going to work out for the best.

If I don’t get an interpretation correct, my guides will send it to me another way. They will keep sending it until I get it.

You can make this same arrangement with your guides. It’s okay to tell them how you prefer to receive signs. I like license plates, but I’m also open to other formats. As long as it comes in 3’s, they will get my attention, and they know it.

Your guides are constantly answering your questions, but if you’re not in direct communication with them, then how are they supposed to answer you? They will use your environment as best they can to maneuver, manipulate and program signs into existence around you, so pay attention.

Ask your guides a question then watch for the signs. Not everything is a sign, so don’t fall into the trap of thinking that everything that happens to you means something. Maybe something is a sign and maybe it isn’t. That’s why I like my rule of threes.

One of the best examples I’ve seen of this concept was in the movie, Bruce Almighty. Bruce is upset and driving down a dark street asking God to please give him a sign. He sees “Caution Ahead” flashing at him. He ignores it and continues to plead with God to give him a sign. Next a truck pulls in front of Bruce carrying dozens of street signs. “Dead End,” “Wrong Way,” “Stop” and “Do Not Enter.” He ignores these obvious signs and crashes his car. You can view the scene here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrdU1k5p2JY

Let me give you a non-license plate scenario. Let’s say you’re mulling over in your mind whether you should take a yoga class or not. You walk out to your mailbox and there’s a brochure for the local yoga studio in there. Hmm. Interesting. Then you go to your email and see a Groupon for half off Bikram Yoga in your area. Wow, that’s cool. Next your friend calls you and says, “I’ve been thinking about trying yoga. Do you know anything about it?” Done. That’s a sign.

Let’s say you’re trying to decide whether you should become a paramedic or a computer programmer. So you’re mulling this over and driving along and you see an accident happen right in front of you. You are first on the scene to help the victims. Could be a coincidence, could be a sign. Later you stop at Starbucks and find yourself in line right behind a paramedic in uniform. You strike up a conversation and get excited about being a paramedic. Later you’re perusing Facebook and someone posts a link to a video about emergency medical services. You’re done. Signs.

See how that works? Pay attention to your coincidences. Maybe they’re signs. If they are, those signs can help you with a problem or situation in your life. Be on the lookout! Signs can save you a lot of time.